Unfortunate Finish Costs Slovan

HC SLOVAN Bratislava - Sibir Novosibirsk 2:3 (0:0, 2:2, 0:1) 

Goals: 32. Šťastný (Jeglič), 38. Kašpar (Nedorost) - 26. Šalunov (Gimajev). 27. Šumakov (Okulov), 56. Šalunov (Ridderwall). Officials: Dejev, Naumov - Zacharenkov, Sadovnikov. Penalties: 3:5, Powerplay goals: 0:0, Shorthanded: 0:1. Attendance: 7,547.

Lineups:
HC SLOVAN Bratislava: Garnett – Sersen, Barker, Švarný, Starosta, Valach, Mihálik, Kozák – Kašpar, Nedorost, Surový – Jeglič, Tičar, Šťastný – Skokan, Protasenja, Bartovič – Lušňák, Viedenský, Skalický
Sibir Novosibirsk: Salák - Vereshagin, Ibragimov, Alekseyev, Roth, Naumov, Gimayev, Ignatovich, Mensikov - Monya, Ullström, Kopeikin - Ridderwall, Okulov, Shumakov - Sannikov, Fefelov, Voroshilo - Zhafyarov, Gubin, Shalunov

Tuesday's duel had a holiday feel about it right from the start. The tempo was lukewarm, and although the sides tried to finish from their frequent forays into the attacking zone, neither goaltender was really troubled. A couple of threats eventually materialised; Skokanov got a touch on Valakhov's speculative effort, while Okulov attempted to force his way through to a finish. Half way through the first period, the visitors came closest to scoring, but Menshikov's backhand pass failed to pick out Zhafyarov in front of goal. Slovan really got started in their first powerplay, where they tried all sorts from various positions. Nedorost almost made the pressure count, but his backhand effort was saved by Salák's wrist, as was a shot that followed Bartovič. Soon after, Monya found himself alone facing Garnett, but he failed to control the puck, spurning the chance.

The Sky Blues opened the second period with offensive intent. Tičar made a lone sortie on goal, but shot over the empty net, then his touch let him down, letting Salák off the hook. Slovan could not keep up the pressure, then even began to struggle in defence. In the 26th minute, Shalunov finished off a fast break from the left, then Shumakov provided almost a carbon copy a minute later. He put Okulov in on goal, whose first time shot rebounded off the backboard, and the winger had the simple task off knocking the puck into the empty net - 0:2. Head Coash Říha opted for a time-out, but not even that succeeded in bringing the hosts around. What did help was a huge mistake by the visitors in the 32nd; Jeglič intercepted a pass, sent the puck to Šťastný, and his smash found the net - 1:2. Slovan then upped the pressure, culminating in the equaliser two minutes from the siren. Kašpar tried his hand from the left side, and Salák was unlucky to deflect the puck into his net - 2:2.

The home team kept to a recipe of simple hockey at the start of the third act. They avoided over-complicating in the attacking third, always looking for the simplest way to get the puck in front of goal. On the other hand, the visitors looked to work on the counter-attack. Two such moves in the 45th minute nearly paid off, but neither Okulov nor Kopeikin made it count. As the end approached, the play got wilder, with shooting attempts at both ends, but both Garnett and Salák kept their teams in it. Sibir finally broke the deadlock four minutes from time, during a Slovan powerplay, when Barker's error allowed the hosts to put together a combination, finished off by Shalunov - 2:3.